The 2023 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for recognising former Senate President David Mark as the national chairman of the party.
Kachikwu described INEC’s decision as “irresponsible,” saying he had never trusted the current leadership of the electoral body.
“Nigerians as a whole know that the David Mark-led faction of the ADC is on borrowed time,” Kachikwu said on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, September 11.
“What we saw from the INEC chairman yesterday was another irresponsible act from the outgoing chairman of INEC,” he added.
The ADC candidate stressed that ongoing court cases should have been respected before INEC’s announcement.
“It is a norm that when you have cases that are in court, you respect those cases that are in court, and you shouldn’t do anything that will affect the outcomes of those cases.
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“The courts are sitting on our matter with David Mark and co next month, and Nigerians will see the rulings after the courts sit,” he said.
When asked why he refused to align with Mark’s ADC faction, Kachikwu said Nigeria’s future should not be left in the hands of “former politicians.”
“Are you saying that in a country of over 200 million people, a bunch of former this, former that are the only people that can mount a rescue mission to save Nigerians from the professional politicians we have had in the last four decades?” he asked.
“Are you saying that my generation, your generation, the generation after us, don’t have anything worthwhile to offer in service to the fatherland?
“Are you saying that people who have ballooned our debts, people who are known worldwide as a bunch of politicians, who have not provided any infrastructure, are the same people you’re telling me are going to save us from themselves? I believe we have Nigerians who have got what it takes to save this country,” he added.
INEC had earlier recognised Mark as chairman and former Osun State governor Rauf Aregbesola as secretary of the ADC following the coalition’s leadership unveiling on July 2, 2025.